Woods, Michael J.

Wednesday, 23 March 1983

: As pensioners have to pay their weekly expenses and rents come under that heading, surely this must apply here?

: I doubt the value of rising to speak on this section having listened to the Minister. He is a fairly hopeless case because he has been totally brainwashed either by the Minister for Finance, the Go...

: We have tried to be as brief as possible. If one looks at the time taken one will find our contributions have been very much to the point. The Minister of State has decried The Way Forward and sai...

: In addition to the increase from £9,500 to £13,000 a worker must pay 1 per cent extra which will be collected in conjunction with PRSI. The Minister should tell the House if that is the case. It w...

: Not the 1 per cent. The Minister should not try to confuse people.

: It is to be collected with it.

: I have no difficulty and unless the Minister wishes to protract the discussion——

: I am quite happy to be argumentative on an issue as important as this.

: This is the kernel of the matter and I am glad it has been brought out so clearly. I listened to the Minister on the radio at 1.30 p.m. misleading people about what will happen. He should not try ...

: Not here, please. The Minister may cod people outside the House.

: It gets very difficult as the day wears on to listen to that type of approach.

: It is a very important issue to the PRSI contributor, the principal contributor to the funds the Minister is using.

: I have made the position fairly clear and the wage earner will discover the position in due course.

: Will all the other benefits be calculated at sixths? Can the Minister say what the cost will be of calculating them at fifths?

: Perhaps the Minister's officials might have some indication of the figure.

: I am only slightly surprised. I understood the other side would be about £1½ million. Obviously it is more expensive than anticipated. I just wanted to have the point clarified.

: As our spokesman said, we support the general measure, but on the specifics would the Minister say what the effect of giving the 25 per cent would be on the two days reduced from three? The Governme...

: In my view the Minister is under a very serious misapprehension about the Social Insurance Fund. One of the basic reasons for setting up this fund was to provide for sickness. The mistake the Mini...

: On a point of order, that is the next section. The Minister has given us a lot of figures on the next section and they could be useful because they are relevant to it but what we are talking about ...

: Would the Minister deal with the section and not be wandering over all the other sections in an effort to distract people from what we are talking about here, namely, extending the waiting period to...

: People who are unemployed must have an opportunity to look for work first. It is ridiculous that we should have to sit here and listen to this.

: The Minister is now proposing to rob the sick to pay long-term unemployment benefit.

: Mrs. Thatcher would take on the Minister any time. Question put. The Dáil divided: Tá, 81; Níl, 74. Tá

: The Minister is taking an extra £9.5 million by cutting down to 25 per cent. It is substantial. Question put. The Dáil divided: Tá, 81; Níl, 74. Tá

Written Answers . - Ground Rents Purchase Scheme .

asked the Minister for Justice if he will state in relation to each of the five years since its introduction, the number of people who availed themselves of the ground rents purchase scheme under the ...